08 March 2012

There's a new sketch challenge blog out there called Retro Sketches, brought to you by some of the same talented ladies from the ColourQ challenge blog. They're cardmakers, but I was inspired to use their first sketch in a slightly different way....

...It's probably no surprise that this magically turned into a layout :). I've really been on a scrapping kick lately! So, here you go:

Aside from the change in scale, the only real way I changed the sketch is by replacing the focal point with a series of three little photos (in this case, photos of Simon snacking on some cinnamon roll crumbs -- sneaky cat!). Technically, there's also one additional layer:

...tulle! It's a little easier to see here, but feel free to enlarge the photo. The tulle adds really subtle texture, and I have to remember to use it more often! This is another layout using my first Studio Calico kit, along with a few bits and bobs from the ol' stash.

You have until the end of the day to play along with this challenge -- it really does make for some cute cards, too, as you can see over on the Retro Sketches blog. Have fun!

05 March 2012

Happy Monday!
A quick post for today -- in a bit, I'm heading to Ohio to visit a friend for the day. Hooray for Spring Break! But for now, I've got a layout I made just yesterday up at Scrappy Chic. (Please pardon the nighttime photos.) I used the Sunday sketch from Studio Calico (and feel free to check out their post -- the sample layout from Kelly Purkey is so fun!):

This also marks one of the first layouts I've made with my new Studio Calico kit subscription -- last month's kit (Daydream Believer - oddly timely title!) was my first one, and I dig it. Here's my take:

Yeah, that's me (pretending to) smooch a portrait of a very serious-looking dude. I think the title explains most of what you need to know. Andrew snapped this one after the Collage Concert at the University of Michigan, which means we were surrounded by both college kids and older folks in furs and stuff. Silly, indeed.

I had some kit and stash items I wanted to use, so I embellished the sketch a bit. Here, you can see some fabric trim from the kit, which I misted in aqua and then stamped. The epoxy circles are from the kit, but the little badge is ancient American Crafts.

I'm happy to see that sequins are trendy right now, especially since I already own some. I used gold sequins to accent the gold washi tape under my title (I think the gold tones down the minty-ness of the alphas somehow...which is good for me since mint is good on this layout but isn't normally a color I like very much). Both alphas and the minty twine are from Scrappy Chic, and everything I haven't mentioned yet is from the kit (including that awesome woodgrain chevron paper, which is from the latest Dear Lizzy collection...I might need to stockpile a few sheets of that one!).

Anywho, I gotta pack a bag and get a few things in order, so I'll leave it at that. Hope you have a lovely day!

03 March 2012

This past week, our little Simon cat had some minor surgery -- there's a pin in his leg from when he broke it last summer, and he's grown so dang fast that the pin had to be removed - it was growing right out of the bone! Sorry, that's a little icky to think about. Luckily, the surgery was truly minor and after a couple days in the Cone of Shame, he's back to his crazy orange self.

In his honor, here's a layout I made a few weeks ago (while cropping at Scrappy Chic) featuring Simon wearing a big envelope rather than a cone:

This layout is also another stash-buster, but with a twist -- not only are most of the papers fairly old (MME Lush from at least a year ago, Making Memories ledger from for.ev.er ago), but I'm also trying to use more of that stuff I hang onto thinking it'll be fun to scrap with...most of which I keep in a box somewhere, all lonely and unused.

Between the title and photo, you can see an old rolodex card (with an "s" for Simon), and a little paper bag -- I have a whole stack of both, and I'm not even sure where they're from anymore!

I was given a whole stack of little envelopes full of postage stamps that my late grandfather had collected -- they aren't worth money, really, but they do have some sentimental value, so I thought getting them onto layouts and other projects where they can be seen would be nice. I also think some of them are kinda hilariously propagandistic (yes, even blogger thinks that's a word, so I'm going with it) -- I mean, really, Atoms for Peace? Nice. The colors and designs play nicely together, though. There's a row of stitching over them, as well as over the title, and a few bits of it in other places, just for fun. Some tapes and a button finish the look.

I predict that I'll be using more non-traditional, office-y stuff on future layouts. If you've used fun supplies from somewhere other than the scrapbook store, I'd love to hear about it.

Have a lovely day!

PS: I'll be doing a guest post later this month over at the Scrap Our Stash blog (which I found through their former DT member, Sue). I'll be sure to let y'all know when it goes up. For now, you can see my little introduction post here.

{Here's another question though: does it bother anyone else to read an intro written in the third person? Is there some industry standard I don't know about? Anyway, I just wrote mine to sound more or less like me. Let me know what you think. Ok, I'm really done now!}